By Michael E. Brooks

"Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, 'Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you'" (Acts 17:22,23).

The great principle of modern religion and philosophy is "Pluralism". This is the conviction that all religions and philosophies, along with most cultural practices and attitudes, have some validity. Individuals should choose from among them according to their own experience, circumstance and inclination. No single path is right absolutely, or right for everyone. This concept is obviously based on the idea of relativism, which contends that there is no such thing as absolute truth or exclusive interpretations.

On my first trek into the Nepali district of Dhading in the Himalayas, I visited a cluster of villages in an area collectively called Tipling. There I visited a medical clinic where there was a group of American doctors conducting a week's clinic for the local villagers. I fell into a discussion with the Nepali government representative who was coordinating the doctor's work about my purpose for being in that remote area. His response to my mission was "why do you trouble these illiterate villagers. They are religious. All religions preach to honor God and treat other people well. There is no difference among them. Let these people alone."

Seldom have I heard religious pluralism expressed so briefly and clearly. All religions offer the same goals. Let each person choose the one he or she likes. Don't judge between them.

A friend pointed out that pluralists like to offer only two choices. Everyone is either enlightened, pluralistic, and tolerant of others, or else they are bigoted, exclusivist and intolerant of any other view than their own. The person so bold as to think that one religion has special claim to truth is a fanatic, and furthermore is undoubtedly self-righteous and hypocritical along with it. Are those indeed the only options? Is there not a middle ground that honors the absoluteness of truth without carrying the baggage of bigotry and intolerance? I believe there is.

Let us compare the wide range of philosophies, world views and religions as an intellectual and spiritual "buffet". In a literal buffet, many different foods are offered, with the customer free to choose whatever items are desired for his or her meal. There may be fresh salads, cooked vegetables, meats, fruits, and desserts. Meats may include baked poultry and fried red meat. Vegetables may range from broccoli to French Fries. It is the customers' choice.

Does anyone contend that among these choices there is not a range of qualities? Are all of equal taste appeal? Are all of equal nutrition and health value? Obviously not. The heart patient is well advised to avoid French Fries. The diabetic should avoid desserts. But take it one step further. Are not fresh vegetables, baked poultry and fruits not generally accepted as "healthier" for everyone? Is there not a discernible standard of "truth" in this illustration; one set of foods being just plain "better" within the context of health and nutrition at least?

If a doctor complains about a patient's diet, should the doctor be accused of bigotry, intolerance and fanaticism? Or rather is he or she not simply pointing out a view of "truth" that has potential benefit for the patient? Now, if a group of doctors lobbied to have all foods banned and their production ceased, except for a narrow list that meets their approval, one might legitimately complain. That might well meet the definition of fanaticism.

Are there religionists who are that fanatical in pursuit of their "one true faith"? Yes there are. The Muslim fundamentalists calling for "holy war" certainly seem to be such, and there are other examples. But does that mean that any believer who is committed to a particular faith is automatically "intolerant"? Does it mean that no one has the right to seek to persuade others to his or her faith? Absolutely not. Relativism is simply not true, and its intellectual descendant – pluralism – is a deceitful attack on true faith and commitment.

Jesus himself said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). That is pretty absolute. Yet Jesus proved his love and "tolerance" for all humans through his death on the cross, and through his willingness for the Father to forgive them. Those who follow Jesus must follow the same path. We exhort others to choose that which is wholesome, beneficial, and true. Yet we do this without hatred, contempt, or harsh judgment. Our faith in the one true God is balanced by our insistence that we "love our neighbors as ourselves." Such a stance is neither pluralistic nor intolerant. It is simply "speaking the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15).

By Michael E. Brooks

"But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God" (Luke 12:20,21).

A friend and I were discussing the economic classification of countries in the world. What determines whether a given nation is "First World", or "Third World"? We realized that it is tied to issues of technological development and economic health, but where precisely is the line drawn? When does a country truly qualify as "poor"? Who exactly are the "have nots"?

Having traveled in several parts of the world considered poor by virtually everyone, I offer one observation. Generally speaking the poor people I have seen have no closets. Think about that. Their homes contain no storage capacity of any kind. No basements, no attics, no stuffed garages, no closets. If you have no possessions besides what you wear or carry on your person, you need nowhere to put them. That is getting very close to a definition of poor. The poor are those who have only the bare minimum of the direst necessities for life, OR LESS!

Consider this statement from the Law of Moses:

"If you ever take your neighbor's garment as a pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down. For that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What will he sleep in?" (Exodus 22:26,27a).

It is his only garment! He has nothing else even in which to sleep. Note that it was the presumption of the Law that many (most?) people in Israel would fit in that category. This is the Scriptural background of the teaching of Jesus in the instructions for the limited commission:

"He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts – but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics" (Mark 6:8,9).

The disciples would be preaching among people who had nothing extra and they were not to flaunt wealth among them. Whether they had it to flaunt is another question, but Matthew (Levi) had been a tax collector; Peter and the sons of Zebedee were fishermen who at least seem to have owned boats and nets. Perhaps others of the disciples had means of their own. If so, they were commanded to identify with those they were attempting to reach, who certainly included the poor. That meant not to take so much as a change of clothing on their journey.

When we get to the parable in Luke 12 of the man whom we so superciliously call "the rich fool", the application becomes quite personal. What precisely was his sin? He had extra possessions, given by the graciousness of God. What did he do with them? He put them in barns (i.e., storage rooms, attics, closets?) for future use, rather than to use them for the benefit of others. He "la[id] up treasure for himself, and [was] not rich towards God."

When we in America build or buy a house, one of the most desired features is usually abundant storage space. We want lots of closets. Should that become a guideline for us in answering the question, "who are the poor?" And conversely, "who are the rich?" Biblical evidence points strongly in that direction. It is long past time for us to listen to the judgment pronounced by our overfilled closets and to be rich towards God, through being generous to the poor who are his people. Listen to his warning as given by Moses:

"And it will be that when he cries to me, I will hear, for I am gracious" (Exodus 22:27b).

By Michael E. Brooks

"…For those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come…" (Hebrews 6:4,5)

In early March I was privileged to visit Makaibari Tea Estate in the hills of Darjeeling district of India. Makaibari is the oldest tea plantation in this region of India, having been established in 1859. I toured the processing plant, then was invited in to meet the owner, Mr. Rajah Banerjee, and was given a cup of the plantation's product. After drinking it, I asked for a brief lesson in tea (I am what is considered a typical American over here – I don't know much about the subtleties of hot tea) and asked what precisely we had just drunk. Mr. Banerjee informed me that it was the "first flush" of the season's harvest, brewed from the very first leaves picked from the tea bushes after their winter's dormancy. He obviously prized this brewing as a special treat, and it was excellent, with a very light, delicate flavor.

Taste is a sense from which we derive great pleasure. We enjoy the rich flavor of meat, the sweetness of dessert, or the light taste of a crisp pastry. It is interesting that taste is used in the New Testament of the Christian experience. We taste "the heavenly gift" and "the good word of God and the powers to come." Our participation in and enjoyment of spiritual blessings in Christ is described in terms of the pleasures of the palate. This is particularly true of eternal life.

Jesus is described as the "first fruits of the resurrection" (1 Corinthians 15:20,23). Though there are other implications of this phrase, it is difficult to ignore the great desirability of the first harvest of a season. Food that has been absent for a time is now restored. The danger of famine and starvation is removed. And in addition there is the great pleasure of the flavor of the fresh "first fruits". In Alabama we look forward all winter and spring for the first "new potatoes" and the produce from the summer garden – fresh green beans, tomatoes and corn. After a long season with only dried or frozen vegetables, they taste especially good.

Jesus' resurrection is the Heavenly sign that our separation from God has ended. Spiritual life is renewed. Hope is restored. The harvest is underway and a time of plenty is upon us. We do not have to wait until our own entrance into Heaven to begin to enjoy its pleasures or to have assurance of them. The harvest has begun. Separation from God has ended (Ephesians 2:13). Spiritual renewal and blessedness is ours (2 Peter 1:3,4). Notice the explicit description in the text that follows:

"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-7).

Jesus has been raised from the dead as the first fruits, and we have already experienced a spiritual resurrection with him, resulting in spiritual fellowship ("sitting together in the heavenly places"). This fellowship is our assurance of the even greater blessings ("the exceeding riches of his grace") that God will bestow in the ages to come.

This means that it is not just Jesus' bodily resurrection in the first century that is the first fruits of the eternal resurrection to come. Rather, our own entrance into the Christian life "in the likeness of his resurrection" (Romans 6:5) is in every sense the beginning of the riches of eternal life. Fellowship with God, spiritual blessedness, and all other God-bestowed gifts promised through Christ, begin with our fellowship with Christ, in his death and resurrection. The famine has ended. The harvest is underway. Let us taste and enjoy.

By Michael E. Brooks

"If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet" (John 13:14).

Do you laugh sometimes at the old-fashioned "fundamentalist" beliefs of some? We wonder at the simplistic interpretations of scripture that result in worship practices like foot-washing and the like. But does it ever occur to us that sometimes in rejecting these things as items of worship we go too far and forget the impact of the original teaching?

Have you ever had someone wash your feet for you in circumstances where, first, they needed it badly, and, second, you could not do it yourself? I had that happen last week on a visit to some river-side villages in Bangladesh. We arrived by boat (there are no roads into these villages; the only way in is by river or canal) at low tide and had to run the boat into the mud bank several feet below the high water mark. That meant we took our shoes and socks off, climbed out of the boat, and waded mud for thirty feet or more up to the dry bank of the river. A lot of that black, sticky mud accompanied us, caked on our feet and legs. As we stood on one foot beside a pool of water a villager washed the other, dried it on his own towel, and put sock and shoe back on. Then he gave the same treatment to the other foot.

In the debate over whether modern churches should hold foot-washing ceremonies in their worship, we forget the real point of what Jesus taught in John 13. Be a servant. Do for each other whatever mundane, humble act of kindness circumstance requires. If your brother's feet are dirty, wash them. If some other need is found, meet it. None of us is too good, or too important to be a servant to others.

Jesus' words are far too simple and powerful to be misunderstood. If he, our master and lord, can humble himself to serve us, who are we to refuse help to anyone else? The very definition of Christian is servant! We are to seek out those who need help, and give them that help. Pride, arrogance, and selfishness are totally out of place in his kingdom.

I was privileged to be reminded once again how humble and helpful a true Christian can be, and how welcome such simple acts of kindness are. May we all follow the example of our Lord, and serve others.

By Michael E. Brooks

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these" (Matthew 6:28,29).

A few years ago Bangladesh was listed as the poorest country in the world. Famines and wars have struck in other places since then, and that ranking may have changed, but prosperity is still a long ways off for the people in this Asian nation. A recent Sunday visit to several fishing villages in the tidal region just north of the Bay of Bengal reminded me of just how harsh and difficult life can be here.

As we walked into one village, however, we passed a home that presented a neat, bright appearance. There were the same dirt, stick and thatch huts seen everywhere. The slack tide revealed long expanses of mud and the "yards" were mere squares of swept dirt. But this house had a neat twig fence around it, pathways of raised, packed dirt, and a bright display of marigolds and Hibiscus in full flower. Someone had taken time to create a pocket of beauty in spite of poverty and hardship.

Several points suggested themselves to me as we passed. First, no matter our circumstances, we can contribute to our own enjoyment and that of others. I am reminded of Jesus' compliment for the woman who washed his feet in perfume, "She has done what she could" (Mark 14:8). This family, whoever they were, could bemoan their poverty and the bleakness of their environment. But they do not. They improve it, even by a little, and the difference really has to be seen to be appreciated. Don't sit and moan and complain. Plant a flower. Pick up some litter. Show love for beauty and appreciation for the world God has made for us.

Secondly, I could not help but think that this oasis of beauty reflected a woman's touch. Call me a male chauvinist or a "sexist pig" if you will, but I don't know many men who have the same instinct or desire to "pretty up" a house in quite that way. Paul commanded Titus to see that young Christian wives are taught to be "home-makers" (Titus 2:5). The positive influence of such a woman is a tremendous blessing, on her husband, her children, and her neighbors. A Christian wife may work in many different ways to help her family and her church, but keeping her home clean and neat and her family fed and clothed is certainly basic.

Finally, I thought of Acts 14:17. "Nevertheless he did not leave himself without witness, in that he did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." This world, its beauty, and its blessings, is our gift from a good and loving God. He is the creator, who "has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness" (2 Pet 1:3). Whether it be the bright colors of a flower, the aroma of fresh bread, or the laughter of a happy child, the little pleasures of daily life remind us that we live in a beautiful and good world. God is good! He loves us! And we praise him!